Saint John, New Brunswick, was a small, stagnant mercantile town in 1800. Its character was set by its British garrison, a few prominent Loyalist officials, and a small merchant elite. But that character changed quickly and dramatically in the first half of the nineteenth century. T.W. Acheson traces the events that lead to the change and analyses their impact on the community.

Thomas Campbell, the author of this pamphlet, did not comesuddenly or unnaturally to the place that must be allowed him in thehistory of the nineteenth century; nor was it a painless process. Hewas born in county Down, Ireland, February 1st, 1763, of Scotchancestry of course. Though his father had renounced Romanismfor the Church of England he long forbade his eldest son to becomea minister of the Anti-Burgher Seceder Presbyterians. His train...